5 May 2025
This week we have news from seven peregrine nests in the Pittsburgh area: Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, Downtown, East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Sewickley Bridge, Monaca-East Rochester Bridge, Tarentum Bridge, and Westinghouse Bridge. (UPDATES at 5pm from Downtown Pittsburgh and Monaca-East Rochester Bridge.)
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh:
The Pitt peregrine chicks are 21 to 24 days old today. As they grow up, Carla makes sure everyone gets his/her fair share of food. She fills up the big sisters first, then focuses on the smallest chick (probably male). If a pushy big sister snatches the little guy’s food, I’ve seen Carla take it back and give it to him.
Yesterday’s two-minute timelapse shows the “kids” sleeping, eating regularly, and roaming the nestbox gravel. Their wing and tail feathers are coming in nicely. Watch them at the National Aviary falconcam at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.
Downtown Pittsburgh:
Today from the Mt. Washington overlook I saw three chicks in the Third Avenue peregrine nest in Downtown Pittsburgh plus one adult perched above them. They appear to be about the same age as the Pitt peregrine chicks so they will probably fledge around the same time in early June.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh:
This week the Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page has a photo of three chicks and an unhatched egg in the East Liberty Presbyterian Church steeple nest. Confirmation at East Liberty, hooray!
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River:
Great news! Gene Henderson digiscoped the nest yesterday during a 7:48am feeding at the Sewickley Bridge. He counted 3 chicks and got photos of both parents, embedded below from eBird. So we have confirmation at Sewickley!
The male perches on top of the bridge …
… while the female feeds their three chicks.
Monaca-East Rochester Bridge, Ohio River:
Today Jeff Cieslak visited the Monaca-East Rochester Bridge and noted a peregrine perched nearby as if watching its nest. He investigated and found two chicks perched in the under-structure of the bridge at one of the peregrines’ typical nest locations.
Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River:
Dave Brooke predicts the three peregrine youngsters at the Tarentum Bridge will be ledge walking this weekend. Visit the Tarentum Boat Ramp under the bridge or the riverside park. Click here for the map.
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek near Monongahela River:
Dana Nesiti saw activity at the Westinghouse Bridge yesterday that indicates there are young in the nest. He saw a peregrine circling above the bridge, then watched food arrive and the male and female trade places. Their favorite move when they leave the ledge is to jump up to the handrail and both of them did it yesterday. Notice the size difference and their toes/talons.
Rt40 Bridge West Brownsville, Monongahela River:
News from West Brownsville, PA was troubling in March when one of this peregrine pair was found injured and sent to rehab. But now in May, Regina Mowl King reports there’s a pair at the bridge, seen in the photo above. Do they have a nest with young? Wait and see.
SUMMARY FOR SOUTHWEST PA:
All the peregrine sites are listed in the table below. Except for those mentioned above, there is no recent nest news from any other site. Help fill in the blanks below by visiting a site near you. Leave a comment if you find anything!
Did the East Liberty falcons build their own nest of sticks? That doesn’t seem very typical.
Sue, it’s an old red-tailed hawk nest that seems to have the proper substrate under it.
So Kate, I need to know… have you always loved birds and attracted the peregrines via some magic OR did peregrines find you and stirred up the love & attention deep inside.
In my case, Mariah, the matriarch of Rochester NY peregrines won my heart. Thru web searches I found your site and found it a great blend of information and ‘fandom’
Thanks.
Mary Jo, I was already “into” birds when I saw a pair of peregrines in courtship flight at the Cathedral of Learning on my way to work in Jan 2001 (stopped at a stoplight; I looked up). There was only one pair of peregrines in all of southwestern PA at the time so this was stunning & I reported it on PABIRDS Listserv. Dan Brauning at PA Game Commission emailed me to “Look for the nest.” The rest is history.
Interested in information on nest location on Monaca East Rochester Bridge. Someone found a chick on the bridge deck today. They got it to the game commission and the game commission says they are going to try and get it back in the nest in a few days after it is checked out. Only thing is is that they currently do not know the exact location of this years nest. Any help would be appreciated. Here is a FB post about the find.
https://www.facebook.com/angelette.holtman/posts/pfbid033NjtCzAUZjKqpWj9yXgUx66qNVvLJgoR1EhkAyZJcznt2pYWPSB9yWn1ZafQep7Zl
I passed along this info to Jeff Cieslak who knows where the nest is.
Thank you. We got out with the drone and found the other baby falcon. We got some good pictures and video. We will share in the next few days.